piles of vintage, sacks of love

The other day I walked out of an antique store with a little pile of finds, already daydreaming about what I was going to make. I opted to carry them to my car without a bag and when I looked down, I realized how great the little pile looked together.  Ready for their project, but pretty great just stacked on a table.

also, a new obsession with grain sacks is in full swing:

these cow stamped sacks are my absolute favorite:

mountains from molehills

I have piles of vintage linen, lace and scrap cotton which I keep in the back of my mind, and brainstorm projects. A few weeks ago, I got an idea and left it to incubate. Finally, on a free evening I began. Here's a bit. More to follow:

favorite things (two): tiny sterling salt & pepper shakers

I went through a serious Salt n' Pepa phase in high school. This is apropos of absolutely nothing and will undoubtedly result in some marital ridicule, but I have to bring it up because I can't say salt and pepper (even when referring to vintage shakers for actual salt and actual pepper) without thinking of the girl hip hop group.

But I (de)digress.
Number two: miniture sterling salt & pepper shakers

I found these tiny sterling silver salt and pepper shakers at the tail end of my egg cup collecting phase and had absolutely no functional reason to buy them.

So I left store, sans shakers.
But, like all of my favorite things, I couldn't stop thinking about them.

I returned quickly and purchased set # one.

They are delightful to hold, light and airy but with the inescapable weight of real silver. They clink together like chimes and feel almost buttery.

The first set led to a quick conviction that someday I will have a lovely dinner party and on the eve of that day, I'd surely regret not having individual shakers for each guests' place setting. After all, who needs only one set of tiny salt and pepper shakers?

 Suddenly other little sets popped up like tiny buds in the corners of several antique stores. One, two, four, six. The more the merrier (especially when they all fit in the palm of my hand).

And that, dear readers, is how a collection is born.